Why Felt Illustrations?

When deciding how to illustrate How the Clownfish Got its Name, I knew that I wanted the pictures to be simple and childlike. I didn't want fancy illustrations that detracted from the message of the story, and wanted just a few colors to stand out. Since I knew that many children would be reading the kids ebook on their Kindles, I also realized that complicated images with many colors would not look good on that platform.

I actually landed on the felt idea one morning while playing with my daughter. She has a book that is made up of two scenes, upon which you can place different felt characters and objects. She adores this book and has a great time arranging the felt figures and talking about what they are doing. It really gets her imagination going. While she was playing with this book, I thought about creating my own felt scenes for the clownfish and his friends. I hoped that this would add an endearing element to the book and complement the story.